Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller watches his team play against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller greets his team after a time out against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/azcentral sports

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona's head coach Sean Miller enters the court before a game against Stanford at McKale Center on March 1, 2018 in Tucson, Ariz.
Patrick Breen/a

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller enters the interview room before making a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz.
Mike Christy/Arizona Daily Star

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller grabs his written statement off the table in a brisk manner after speaking about his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season.
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Star

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Sean Miller makes a statement on his future with the Arizona Wildcats basketball program at McKale Center on March 1, 2018, in Tucson, Ariz. Miller maintained he engaged in no wrongdoing in regard to allegedly paying a player, adding he looks forward to coaching the team this season.
Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta, Mike Christy / Arizona Daily Sta

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Photo: Arizona Wildcats coach Sean Miller

Arizona Wildcats head coach Sean Miller swings a net around in celebration after the Wildcats defeated Oregon in the Pac-12 tournament championship game at T-Mobile Arena on March 11, 2017.
Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Wildcats make their Pac-12 tournament debut on Thursday after closing out the regular season with two straight wins and a conference title … all in the face of scandal.

The controversy around the Arizona program quickly became the story of a tumultuous season for college basketball. An ESPN report alleged that head coach Sean Miller had been caught on FBI wiretaps discussing payment to star freshman Deandre Ayton. Miller vehemently denied the report, and the school stood by him. Ayton didn't miss a game.

CLOSE

Arizona basketball coach Sean Miller met with the media Thursday to decry an ESPN report that linked him with potential payments to a recruit.
Arizona Athletics

That was enough to have Arizona fans convinced that Sean Miller has been "vindicated." These were popular shirts spotted around Las Vegas on Thursday.

There were questions about ESPN report, which had issued a correction about the wiretap timeline before retracting that correction. Mark Schlabach and ESPN both stood by their reporting on the Miller story.

While jammin' to the Who on way to arena saw several UA fans sporting tshirts saying 'F*** ESPN.' Another with phrase 'VindicAted' with big photo of Sean Miller. At very least today should prove entertaining #CUBuffs

Additional reporting confirmed that ESPN was correct in a Feb. 24 SportsCenter video talk back which stated that Arizona coach Sean Miller and Christian Dawkins, a key figure in the FBI's investigation into college basketball corruption, spoke in 2017. A correction of that report, issued Feb. 25, misstated that the conversation in question took place in 2016. ESPN stands by the reporting of the story on SportsCenter and ESPN digital media.